Self-wringing sponge mop



y 1960 c. A. CHANNELL SELF-WRINGING SPONGE MOP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril 2, 1956 m w m m C. A. CHANNELL SELF-WRINGING SPONGE MOP July 5,1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 2, 1956 INVENTOR. QZfl/l/Z Mv UnitedStates 2,943,340 Patented July 5, 1960 'SELF-WRINGING SPONGE MOP CharlesArthur Channel], Wilmette, Ill., assignor to American-Marietta Company,OCedar Division, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 2,1956, Ser. No. 575,616

3 Claims. (Cl. 15-119) This invention relates to mop devices generallyand particularly to a mop device having integral squeezing or wringingmeans.

. While many forms of mops are known in the art which are arranged to bewrung by means integral therewith, certain disadvantages are found inthese mops which limit their appeal and utility to the housewife. Themore serious disadvantages include the rapid wear and deterioration ofthe mop element or sponge caused by pinching and similar excessivepressure application thereon by the wringing or squeezing means. Anotherdisadvantage is that the means for attaching the mop head to the mophandle are relatively complicated and resultingly costly to manufacture.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedmop device of the type having integral squeezing means.

Another object is to provide such a mop wherein the mop element orsponge is folded on itself into two substantially similar portions bymeans of a roller, bearing against a limited portion of the sponge.

A further object is to provide such a mop device wherein a freelyextending section of the sponge is arranged for coaction with the rollerand is reinforced over a portion thereof with a suitable flexiblematerial. Still another object is to provide such a mop device whereinthe roller may roll over the unreinforced portion of the extendingsection during the wringing compression of the sponge thereby allowing asubstantial pressure to be applied over a limited area while effectivelyprecluding undesirable curling or wrapping of the sponge around theroller.

Yet another object is to provide a mop device which is adaptively usablewith any one of a plurality of sponges having different dimensions.

Still another object is to provide a new and improved manual operatingmeans for actuating the roller compressing means.

Other' features and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a mop device embodying the invention andcarried on an end portion of a mop handle;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevational view thereof with the partsshown in the position of normal mop use;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view thereof, similar to Figure 2, butwith the parts thereof shown in the position assumed during the wringingof the mop element;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary rear elevational view thereof with the partsarranged in the position of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the means forsecuring the mop head to the support;

Figure 6 is a side elevational view similar to Figure 2 but having amodified form of mop head and securing means;

' Figure 7 is a top plan view of modified form of the mop device havinga modified form of operating lever;

Figure 8 is an enlarged, side elevational view of the device of Figure7, with the parts arranged in the normal mop use position; and

Figure 9 is a side elevational view. thereof, similar to Figure 8, butwith the parts arranged in the position assumed during the wringingoperation. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention disclosed 1nFigures 1 to 5 of the drawings, a mop device generally designated 10 isshown to comprise a mop head 11 includmg a mop element or sponge 11asecured to a plate 12. Secured to a handle 13 of the mop is a support 14to which plate 12 is adapted to be secured readily removably in facialjuxtaposition by a locking means generally designated 15. Only the frontportion of sponge 11a is secured to plate 12 with the remainder of thesponge extending rearwardly to underlie handle 13. Means for wringingthe sponge are provided in the form of a roller device 16 which isconnected to support 14 by means of arms 17 which are pivotally securedto the support to allow the roller means to swing in an are against therear portion of the sponge and while rolling thereagainst press the rearportion toward the forward portion and plate 12. This action effectivelyfolds the sponge into two substantially equal portions during thewringing operation.

The wringing pressure applied to the sponge is localized by the limitedarea of contact between roller 16 and the sponge, and stressdistributing means are provided in the form of a flexible sheet 18carried across the top of the sponge front portion and partially acrossthe top of the sponge rear portion. A manual operating lever 19 ispivotally secured to support 14, and is connected to roller 16 by asuitable link 20 to effect the desired arcuate rolling movement of theroller during the wringing operation. To secure lever 19 in anout-of-the-way position under handle 13 when desired, a suitable springclip 21 may be provided.

The general structure of my mop device having been made clear, thespecific detailed construction thereof will now be described. Mopelement 11a comprises a general, elongated block of suitable mopmaterial such as conventional sponge (skeletal Porifera) or similarwater absorbent material. Sponge 11a is preferably rectangular in crosssection and is divided lengthwise, medially into a front portion 11b anda rear portion 11c. On top surface 11b of front portion 11b is securedplate 12 by any of suitable means well known in the art. Plate 12preferably comprises an elongated strip of relatively rigid ma terialsuch as metal or a plastic and extends substantially completelylengthwise of sponge 11a with only a small peripheral portion of sponge11a extending laterally outwardly from the plate to prevent undesiredengagement of the plate with the household furnishings during use of themop, The top surface of sponge rear portion lie is divided into twoportions, namely inner top surface and outer top surface 11c". Acrossplate 12a, the exposed periphery of front top surface 11b, and inner topsurface 110' is secured, by suitable means such as cementing, a flexiblereinforcing material, preferably comprising a fabric material such ascanvas, and forming reinforcing sheet 18. Locking means 15 includes atleast one lug 12a upstanding from plate 12 to extend through sheet 18and having a portion 12b disposed parallel to plate'12 and spacedupwardly therefrom. Two such lugs 1211 are provided in the preferredembodiment, being formed integrally with plate 12 by being upsettherefrom.

Support 14- comprises a flat member generally similar to plate 12 indimensions and is provided with suitable openings 14a through which lugs12a are adapted to pass when plate 12 and support 14 are arranged infacial juxtaposition. Extending rearwardly from, support 14 are aplurality of hinge blocks 1% each having a slot 140 extendingtransversely therethrough to receive one end 1711 of arms 17. Upstandingfromsupport 14 intermediate its ends is a tubular socket member 14dadapted to receive the lower end of handle 13. Means may be provided forsecuring the handle tomember ldd in as sembledrelationship such as anindented portionl ie on socket 14d adapted to have threaded engagementwitlithe lower end of hai1dle'13.

For illustrative'purpos'es, I have shown the hinge blocks as beingdisposed below the plane of support 14; it should be understood,however, that the hinge'block's' could be otherwise disposed and arms 17suitablyarranged to effect the desired swinging of 'roller device 16.Such adaptability is particularly advantageous'in that different sizesponges 11a may be' used "with mop "device with suitable wringing beingeffected throughuse of the desired pivoting arm structurefl' Lock meansincludes a bar'15 a having one end pivotally secured to support 14adjacent an opening 14a, to allow the otherend of the 'bar'to'be'positioned removably across the opening. 'The'thickness ofbar 15a ispreferably comparable to or 'just slightly greater than the spacing oflug portion 12b above the top surface ofsupport 14 when plate'12' andsupport 14 are'brought together. Thus, bar '14 may be" wedged tightlybetween lug portion 12b and support'14 across" opening14d to lock plate12 to support 14. To provide'improved ease of manipulation the'freeend'I'Sbofbar 14;: may be arranged to project upwardly from support 14 andform a grasping flange.

Roller 16 includes a rod 16a which extends longitudinally slightly lessthan the length of'mop head'llf -'Arms 17 are each provided at theirou'ter'end 17b with an opening 17c through which rod 16a is passed tohave free rotation aboutits axis; 'Rotatabl'y carried on rod 16:: are aplurality of tubular sleeves 16b extending longitudinally between arms17 and to adjacent the extreme ends of the rod. Tosecure the rodand'sleeves in assembled relationship with'arms 17, the extreme ends 16aand 16a" of the rod may be peaned.

The inner end 1711 of each'of'ar'ms 17 is provided with an opening 17dand arod 17a is arranged toextend through each of binge blocks 1 4b 'andthrough openings 17d with the inner ends 1751' of the arms received inslots 14c. Longitudinal movement of rod 17e, when thus installed, isprevented by means such as penning of the extreme ends 172 and l7e' oftherod. Arms 17 are thus carried by rod 17a to swing roller 16 in acircular are from a position, as seen in Figure 2, laterally of plate 12to a position, as seen in Figure' 3, spaced below the plate. in-whichlatter position sponge 11a is wringingly compressed by the roller. "Arms17'are made arcuate'to prevent engagement with sponge 11a."

Operating lever 19 is arranged to' provide a mechanical advantage in thewringing'of roller 16. To this" end, lever 19 is secured at its lowerend19a tosocket 14d by a suitable pivotal connection"19bl' Link 20 issecured to lever 19 at oneend 20a by a suitable pivotal connectionZOband is provided with an opening 20c in its other end 20d through which amidportion of rod 16;: is passed to secure the end 20dof thelug'pivotally'to the rod. The relative positioning of pivotalconnections 1% and 2012, rod 16a, and rod '17s is made such that whenlever 19 is pivoted away from handle 13 (in a clockwise direction, asseen in Figure '2) link 20 causes roller 16 to move eircurnferentiallyaboutthe axis of rod 17a, as described above.

An opening 190 is provided in lever 19 through which spring clip 21extends when lever '19 is returned to the inoperative position adjacenthandle 13. Clip 21 is arranged to engage releasably the portion of lever19 defining opening 190 to secure releasably the lever in theinoperative position. i i

The utilization of mop device 10 is extremely simple. Mop head 11 issecured'to support 1 4 by locking means 15. To this end, sponge 11a ispositioned with plate 12 facially juxtaposed'to support 1'4and"lugs'12a"extending through openings 14a. Bar 15a is then moved tothe locking position. The mop device may then be utilized in the normalmopping operation as desired. When it is desired to wring the mop, lever19 is grasped and moved away from handle 13 causing roller 16 to passrotatively against top surface and to move to the wringing positionwherein sponge 11d is folded on itself and pressed against plate 12.wringing operation may be re peated as desired. Because the'area ofengagement of the roller with the sponge is relatively small'and thelever provides a desirable mechanical advantage, a high compressiveorwringing forcemay be developed with relative ease by theo'perator.Because the roller acts against the unreinforced surface 11c", rearportion 11c may be forced against front portion 11b without curling orwrapping of the rear portion about the roller and, thus the liquid maybe edectively'wrung from" all portions of the sponge." The extensioh ofreinforcing sheet 18 overi'nner surface 110' etfec ts a distributionof'the stresses produced in the sponge to prevent'uride sired pinchingof the sponge during thefolding thereof. Uponcompletion'of the wringingoperation'lever19fis returned to the position along side handle 131withspringclip'2racting automatically to'retain it in thisposition. 1

In Figure'6 is shown a modified form of mop device 110 havinganon-wringable mopheadj such asa' dusting, waxing or b ufnng'rnop'element 111a, A plate 112 is provided which extends"substantiallylaterally beyond a support 114 which'is similar to support'fltof thefirst described form. A lug 112a iscarriedby the plate and is similar tolug .12 except that the portion 112!) is spaced substantially furtherfromthe plate'tq allow the disposition of a clamping plate 122 betweenplate 112and-support 114; The lateral extent of'clamping plate 122 ismade similar to that 'of plate 112 and the outer edge 111d ofmop element111a is brought into the space between the peripheries of'plate 1 12and122. Edge 1114 is tightly clamped therebetween'when the plates aresecured to support 1'4by mean s'of a locking bar 115a which'issimilar tolocking bar 15a. Thusfit may be seen that mop'head 111 may bereadilyinstalled in or removed from mop device 110 by the simple clamping andtinclarnping of plates *112and 122 to support 114;

Another form "of the invention isshown iir'Figures 7 t wh r in a mQP"@'ssn s Y nat is seen to include a manual operating lever 219 arrangedto be pivotally connected to a support socket 214d.""'1he lower end 219aof lever 219 is bifurcated to extend on opposite sides ofhan dle 2 13and two'links 220'corinect end'219a to a roller 'me'ans'216. Lever 21915arranged to lie proximate the upper side of'handle 213*when'not ifl e whn' t'i ds sd tq'w ns e map t e p s end 21% of lever'219is pivoted awayfrom handle 213 whereby the lower end 2194 is moved dowriiivardlyto theopposite side of die handle to move roller means 216 in' a'r'nannersimilar to thatofl'roller in' mopjdeviccl 10. With the exception'thattheabove described means for manually swea n r9 1?! tlfifdif er. sbmsnha tqm that of mop device 10 the structures and functioniog of p dev ses 1and ,0 are m a In device 9 the movement of the operatinglevei'v'relative to the handle is upwardly, whereas in device 10 themovement of the operating lever is downwardly, the structure forconnecting the levers to the roller means being such however to efiect asimilar operationof'the'rollermeans in either devlce' While I have shownand described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to beunderstoodthat it is capable of many modifications. Change s," therefore, in theconstruction and arrangement may be made 'without departing from thespirit and scope. of the invention as disclosed in he ppe ded c a s Iclaim:

1. A mop device comprising: an elongated block of spongy material,divided into two substantially equal parts forming a front portionhaving a rectangular top surface and a rear portion having a rectangulartop surface; a plate attached to said block at said front top surface; asocket attached to said plate and adapted to receive a handle; flexiblereinforcing means across at least a portion of the rear top surface;roller means extending lengthwise of said block adjacent said rear topsurface; a plurality of arms arranged to pivot about an axis extendinglengthwise of said block and between said surfaces, with one end of eachof said arms pivotally attached to said plate and the other end attachedto said roller means to cause said roller means to bear against saidrear top surface at the edge thereof most remote from said front topsurface and to move circumferentially about said axis toward said fronttop surface and fold said block yieldingly on itself to urge said blockcompressingly against said plate; a link articulted to said rollermeans; and a lever articulated to said link with one end pivotallyattached to said socket, said lever being movable toward and away fromsaid roller means.

2. A mop device comprising: an elongated block of spongy materialdivided into two substantially equal parts forming a front portionhaving rectangular top surface and a rear portion having a rectangulartop surface; a plate attached to said block at said front top surface; asocket attached to said plate and adapted to receive a handle; flexiblereinforcing means across at least a portion of said rear top surface;roller means extending lengthwise of said block adjacent said rear topsurface and arranged to bear against said rear top surface; and meansfor moving said roller means laterally arcuately toward said front topsurface to fold said block yieldingly on itself and urge said blockcompressingly against said plate, including a leved pivotally carried onsaid socket and having a grasping portion arranged to extend on one sideof said handle and a bifurcated portion arranged to straddle said socketand to extend from the other side of said handle when the graspingportion is pivoted away from the socket during wringing and alsoincluding link means to connect said bifurcated portion and said rollermeans.

3. A mop device comprising: an elongated block of spongy material,divided into two substantially equal parts forming a front portionhaving a rectangular top surface and a rear portion having a rectangulartopsurface; a plate attached to said block at said front top surface; asocket attached to said plate and adapted to receive a handle; flexiblereinforcing means across at least a portion of the rear top surface; aroller means extending lengthwise on said block adjacent said rear topsurface; a plurality of arms arranged to pivot about an axis extendinglengthwise of said block and between said surfaces, with one end of eachof said arms pivotally attached to said plate and the other end attachedto said roller means to cause said roller means to bear against saidrear top surface at the edge thereof most remote from said front topsurface and to move circumferentially about said axis toward said fronttop surface and fold said block yieldingly on itself to urge said blockcompressingly against said plate; a link articulated to said rollermeans; and a lever articulated to said link pivotally connected to saidsocket means with a portion thereof movable toward and away from thelocation occupied by said rear top surface when the sponge block isunfolded.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,221,557 Rogers Nov. 12, 1940 2,224,462 Williams Dec. 10, 19402,251,384 Thomas Aug. 5, 1941 2,663,042 Richard et al. Dec. 22, 19532,715,743 Ljungdahl Aug. 23, 1955 2,731,658 Miller Ian. 24, 19562,761,161 Channel Sept. 14, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 708,239 Great BritainApr. 28, 1954 935,021 France Jan. 19, 1948

